Why They Left The Church: It's The Failure Of "sound Doctrine" From The Pulpit

The question is why. Many demographers blame our busy lifestyles. The need to work on Sunday, shopping, kids need entertaining, not enough time to get up and get ready for church. We can now do church in front of an iPad or laptop in our pajamas, so why bother getting dressed to go to church. Our lives are hectic and we need Sunday morning to sleep in. “I moved; attendance was inconvenient; or, say, family change,” Michael Graham, co-author of “The Great Dechurching” says. Another report said it was about racism, misogyny, political syncretism, clergy scandal, and clergy abuse. The list goes on and on.

But I would like to suggest another reason. It is the failure of “sound doctrine” coming from the pulpit; (Titus 2:1). The failure to preach ‘the faith once for all delivered to the saints.’ (Jude 1:3). Preachers who send out mixed messages; preachers who compromise God’s Word for ‘itching ears’ theology. Issues of one stripe or another become more important than teaching about justification, sanctification, or redemption.

Intuitively people know when they are being hoodwinked. They may not say much, they won’t stand up and protest the nonsense spouted from the pulpit; they just quietly walk away never to return. Who can blame them?

We could put a lot of it down to the Social Gospel promulgated by American theologian and Baptist pastor Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918), a key figure in the Social Gospel that flourished in the US during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His message became the rallying cry and birthed liberal Protestantism; (for Roman Catholics it was Liberation Theology), and so the rot started.

Liberal theology infected the mainline Protestant denominations and a whole new era and theology was born. Aided by the promiscuity of the 60′s and America was ready for a new transformation. But it was a transformation of seduction; of me, myself and I, aided by a growing therapeutic culture of narcissism and psychological self-help. Therapists became more important than preachers.

Preachers were obliged to tell you what you are (a sinner) and what to believe; therapists helped you understand your better self and dig deeper into who you really are without judgement. One was supposed to liberate us from our self, the other side wanted us to get in touch and explore our inner self to make us feel good about ourselves. The latter won the day.

A theologian friend of mine, now deceased, once jokingly said; “people who go in search of themselves deserve exactly what they find.” In hindsight he was right. Therapists’ offices are filled with people who are trying to find themselves and not liking much what they find. There is more alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual violence, suicide, and pornography addiction than there has ever been. People are not happier going to Disney World and Las Vegas to wile the time away. Pleasure only lasts for a season; our dark sides rear their heads only to remind us that we are indeed sinners in need of salvation not salivation.

America’s preachers dropped the ball and the churches emptied out. I blame the pulpit not the pews. The people look up and are not fed. Why come back when you can get it all from the New York Times. Coffee and doughnuts replaced bread, wine, and the Bible.

If there is no “thus saith the Lord,” then there is only “thus saith my therapist.”

A case in point was the news that Ryan Burge, known for his analysis of church trends, was also the pastor of a Baptist church in Illinois that closed its doors recently…going out of business for lack of people. You can read his own personal journey here: https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/07/25/ryan-burge-church-closing-the-nones/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Here is a paragraph from a story about his departure: “First Baptist Church was a mainline church affiliated with the American Baptist denomination. Theologically, it was moderate.”

First, the ABC-USA is not to be confused with the Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative denomination. The ABC-USA is a liberal version of Baptist thinking. The word “moderate” is the trigger word. Moderate preachers don’t fill churches. No one ever accused Jonathan Edwards, Charles Wesley, John Stott, Martin Lloyd Jones, or Billy Graham of being moderate men of all shades of opinion. They knew exactly what they believed and blasted it forth with uncompromising certainty.

In the small but growing church I now belong too, graced by a Hispanic pastor with whom I am privileged to mentor as he preaches the Good News, is primary. Feeding the flock is unashamedly central and reaching out to the community in all the ways we can think about from direct encounter to social media by all the congregation keeps everyone on their toes. There are no slackers. People’s gifts and calling are used to the fullest. He believes in giving the ministry away not holding it all to himself. He has a ‘go and tell’ not a ‘come and hear’ mentality.

Starting from the moment Pastor Charles was kicked out of the local United Methodist Church, (that’s another story) he kicked into high gear, started over and today we are approaching 40 souls, including 18 children and youth. We have learned that if you make church interesting to kids they will want to come back and drag the parents along. Every child is given an action bible, a comic book style approach of the whole Bible. Parents require harder work. Pastor Charles does not back down or hold back. The word is preached with conviction, purpose, power, and application.

Now you know why The Episcopal Church, along with all the mainline churches are failing. Pressing the case for homosexuality and gay marriage and full on LGBTQI+ acceptance is not filling churches but emptying them. The United Methodist Church recently split worldwide over the issue. By contrast denominations like the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) are growing and thriving. It’s a no brainer.

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction,” said the Apostle Paul to Timothy. (2 Tim. 4:2) We should do no less.

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WHY THEY LEFT THE CHURCH: IT’S THE FAILURE OF “SOUND DOCTRINE” FROM THE PULPIT

COMMENTARY

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
August 5, 2024

On average, approximately 4,500 U.S. churches close every year, and only 1,000 new ones open. And every year, 2.7 million church members become inactive, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

There are many reasons offered as to why people have left and continue to leave churches. Many blame the pandemic, but the truth is the rot started long before then and was only hastened by the outbreak of Covid.

People were dropping out like flies. Forty million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years. That’s something like 12 percent of the population, and it represents the largest concentrated change in church attendance in American history.